Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently sold a majority stake in his professional hoops team to the Dumont and Adelson families. The prominent casino magnates and owners of Las Vegas Sands Corp. purchased 100 acres northeast of the demolished Texas Stadium in Irving last July.
It doesn’t take Woodward and Bernstein to crack this case.
Cuban has for years lobbied for resort casino gambling venues in Texas, but it’ll take an act of the state legislature to legalize it.
In a Q&A with the Dallas Morning News published last week, Cuban addressed the Mavericks sale, approved unanimously by the NBA Board of Governors.
“It’s a partnership, right?” Cuban told the DMN. “They’re not basketball people; I’m not a real estate person. That’s why I did it. I could have gotten more money selling it to somebody else. Obviously, I’m really excited about everything, but this was a great partnership. I’ve known these guys for a long time. They’re great at the things I’m not good at.”
The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that Sands Corp. made another big land purchase of more than 12 acres on Stemmons Freeway at Inspiration Drive in Dallas’ Design District. The property, valued at about $42.9 million, is across the freeway from Victory Park and includes a building now used as the Mavericks practice facility, according to the report.
Will The Texas Legislature Gamble on Resort Casinos?
As a billionaire businessman who served as one of the key “sharks” on the ABC reality television series “Shark Tank,” Mark Cuban is the king of speculative investment.
With the 89th legislative session looming in January 2025, it looks like he’s betting on a regulatory win.
The national casino industry contributes nearly $329 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to a 2023 study conducted on behalf of the American Gaming Association.
But will Texas allow resort casinos?
daltxrealestate.com reached out to Texas Rep. Terry Meza, D-Irving, and Texas Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas.
Meza did not respond to our inquiry. A spokeswoman from Johnson’s office said the senator would decline comment at this time.
WFAA reported that Fort Worth State Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican, filed a bill last session that would have given Texas voters the choice to decide on sports betting and expanding casino gaming to a limited number of “destination resorts.”
The bill died, but many, including Cuban, have said they think it’s likely to resurface in the future and that North Texas could become a premier tourist destination for resort casinos.
What a Resort Casino Would Mean to Irving’s Economy
Irving, Texas, is no stranger to big tourist attractions — and plucking such bright lights from Dallas.
One can’t really deep dive into the beef between Irving and Dallas without mentioning Texas Stadium.
The Dallas Cowboys played at the Cotton Bowl from the team’s inception in 1960 until founding owner Clint Murchison Jr. announced in 1967 plans to build the new Texas Stadium in Irving.
According to reports, Murchison “felt that the Fair Park area of the city had become unsafe and downtrodden, and did not want his season ticket holders to be forced to go through it. Murchison was denied a request by then-Mayor Erik Jonsson to build a new stadium in downtown Dallas as part of a municipal bond package.”
Texas Stadium remained the Dallas Cowboys’ home in Irving until 2009 when the $1.3 billion AT&T Stadium was built in Arlington.
The Adelson and Dumont families’ reported $3.8 billion purchase of the Mavs also puts the professional basketball team “in a better position to compete” as concerns about dips in traditional media revenue were raised by Cuban, according to the WFAA report.
NBC DFW reported on Dec. 27 that the transaction offered the Adelson and Dumont families a 77 percent share of the team, with Cuban keeping the remaining 23 percent and operational control of the team.
The land purchased by Village Walk RE 2 LLC at 2615 Spur 482, near the former home of the Dallas Cowboys, carried a $22.4 million price tag.
The City of Irving is an “economic powerhouse in North Texas and is home to the region’s largest office park, where more than 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies are headquartered or have a significant presence,” according to the city website. Wells Fargo recently announced a new corporate campus to be built in Irving, relocating the majority of Dallas employees by 2025.
The American Gaming Association study found that, in addition to a massive national economic impact, gaming generates $52.7 billion in tax revenue to federal, state, and local governments and provides jobs for a workforce of 1.8 million.
